1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recording apparatuses and recording control methods that allow receiving and recording data transmitted by wireless from outside. More specifically, the present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording control method that allow receiving and recording data including image data, transmitted by wireless from an image-data supplying device such as a cellular phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional printers usually receive image data transmitted from connected computers that serve as host apparatuses, and execute printing based on the image data received. Recently, as digital cameras become more common, other types of printers have become available. For example, some printers have slots for mounting memory cards storing image data captured by digital cameras, which can be attached to and detached from the digital cameras, so that the printers are capable of directly reading the image data stored on the memory cards and printing the image data. As another example, some printers are connected to digital cameras via USB (Universal Serial Bus) interfaces or other special interfaces so that the printers can receive image data directly from the digital cameras and print the image data. The printers described above are allowed to print images without host apparatuses acting between the printers and digital cameras. Print setting for printing the image is made via operation panels of the printers, or via operation panels of the digital cameras connected to the printers.
Recently, cellular phones having imaging capability equivalent to that of digital cameras have become available, allowing imaging with a number of pixels for recording (i.e., resolution) equivalent to that of ordinary digital cameras.
Furthermore, some cellular phones have interfaces for infrared communications with external devices, allowing infrared communications by wireless with external devices. Such cellular phones can be used, for example, as remote controllers for television sets, or allow exchanging data or captured images between cellular phones without using a telephone circuit.
An ink-jet printer having such an infrared communication interface is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-75765.
The ink-jet printer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-75765 has a plurality of interfaces including an infrared communication interface, and switching among the plurality of interfaces can be monitored. However, the document does not disclose or suggest a scheme for using the infrared communication interface to allow printing of image data transferred via, for example, the infrared communication interface of the cellular phone described above.
Although the cellular phone described above allows exchanging data by wireless communications through the infrared communication interface, in order to print an image captured by the digital camera function provided in the cellular phone, the following procedure must be taken. First, image data is transferred from the cellular phone to a computer via the Internet using a telephone line. The image data is once saved in the computer, and the computer sends the image data to a printer. Then, the printer prints the image data. Thus, the conventional scheme requires many and complex operations for printing.
Furthermore, in the case of a printer for the general user, connected to a computer, operations and setting for printing are executed at the computer. Thus, complex operations are not allowed with the printer alone. Furthermore, formats of image data transmitted by wireless communications through infrared communication interfaces of cellular phones vary among manufacturers. Therefore, a convenient and reliable method for sending images captured by cellular phones having infrared communication interfaces to printers having compatible infrared communication interfaces and printing the images by the printers.
When image data to be printed is sent to a printer using a printer driver installed on a computer connected to the printer, number of copies, print size, type of paper used as a recording medium for printing, print quality, and the like, are specified for each print command. Then, image data with such setting is sent to the printer so that the image data will be printed according to setting desired by a user. However, a small terminal such as a cellular phone is only capable of communications mainly aimed at exchanging data or files stored therein, and does not allow various setting for printing. Furthermore, implementing functions of a printer driver in a cellular phone leads to increase in cost of the cellular phone and is not therefore practical.